Haunting memories revisit Kona
| • | Disaster accentuates legacy of Hawai'i hero |
By Kevin Dayton and Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writers
KEAHOLE, Hawai'i — Claude Onizuka's sister called him at 4:30 a.m. yesterday and told him to turn on the television news. As he watched, it was 1986 again.
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Onizuka's heart sank looking at a video clip that showed pieces of the space shuttle Columbia breaking off and streaking through the atmosphere, reminding him of the burning projectiles that spun off from the shuttle Challenger 17 years ago.
"It brought back a lot of memories and it opened up the wound completely," Claude Onizuka said.
"It brought back a lot of memories and it opened up the wound completely," said Onizuka, the younger brother of astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka, who died when the Challenger exploded during liftoff.
"I vividly recall what was happening 17 years ago to us, and I can imagine what is going on with the families," Claude Onizuka said. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and NASA."
Well-wishers and staff at the Onizuka Space Center at Keahole airport in Kona offered red roses at a small memorial for the crew of the Columbia yesterday, and draped a tuberose lei around a grainy, framed photograph of the seven Columbia astronauts.
"You take these things for granted, that they'll come up and go down OK, and we lose so much touch with the shuttle because they were so routine," said Kenric Ward, a visitor from Las Vegas who visited the space center. "I honestly didn't know they were up."
Norman Sakata, who had been Ellison Onizuka's scoutmaster in Kona and had remained friends with him as he rose to the level of astronaut, got a 5 a.m. phone call from Claude Onizuka about yesterday's disaster.
That call and those that followed brought back haunting memories that Sakata said he has tried not to dwell on all this time. Sakata was standing with Claude and other Onizuka family members at Cape Canaveral the day the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff.
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"I saw it on the TV and it almost was like a flashback," Sakata said. "I think the mind tries to forget those things, but (yesterday) morning brought back some painful memories."
Kenric Ward of Las Vegas visited the Onizuka Space Center yesterday in Kona, where a small memorial for the seven astronauts of the Columbia was set up. A lei is draped around a photo of the crew.
Sakata made presentations to schools and Boy Scout troops last month to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. "I think we take for granted the risks these brave people take; what they do up there in space is not a joy ride," he said. "I asked Ellison once if he was scared heading up there while they're sitting on tons of fuel, and he said they always tried to concentrate on their mission to keep their mind off of those fears."
At Paul's Place store in Holualoa, several miles from Onizuka's boyhood home in Keopu, the buzz among the customers reflected back to the loss of Onizuka.
"The whole Kona area took it really hard when he died," said Lance Teramoto, who helps operate the family store. "Ellison was our boy, so you feel really bad for those astronauts that died."
Teramoto, who was 20 at the time of the Challenger accident, said he was confused when the news first mentioned yesterday's shuttle disaster. He initially thought the media coverage was a continuation of the Challenger anniversary last week.
"But this time, when I saw what happened to the shuttle while it was coming down, man, you couldn't believe it was happening again," Teramoto said.
Claude Onizuka said his brother always warned that the most dangerous phases of any space voyage were liftoff and re-entry, and said it seemed that after the Challenger catastrophe NASA focused most intently on the hazards of liftoff.
Still, Claude Onizuka said, after the deaths in the Challenger accident the space program became much safer, and "they do whatever they can. If anything is wrong, they don't fly."
"It's a very dangerous mission, but I think nothing is ever 100 percent safe. Ellison always told us the astronauts, they go into this program with their eyes wide open to the dangers. He always said that if anything went wrong, that I have to realize he's sitting on top of a giant bomb."
Claude Onizuka said the astronauts were heroes who risk their lives so the United States can keep pace or pull ahead of the rest of the world in space exploration.
"I hope that they can find the problem, correct it and get the shuttle flying," he said. "That's the dream of all of the astronauts."
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916, or Scott Ishikawa at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8110.
